Multimodal, Interactive and Gamified Language Learning Concepts

During this interdisciplinary PhD project multimodal, gameful, collaborative, experiential, holistic, action-based and authentic web-supported concepts are developed for (foreign) language education. A central issue is to support different types of learners with different modalities and different types of digital learning possibilities, for example social media platforms, video conferencing, informal games (like Minecraft), and gamified learning approaches. The latter includes approaches such as Berlin Kompass and CityCompass that Pihkala-Posti developed in collaboration with the computer scientists of TAUCHI (Tampere Unit for Computer-Human Interaction) in the projects Active Learning Spaces" and "Digital Services.

Tampere University

Goal

The main goals of the project are to improve learners written and spoken foreign language skills and to strengthen learner autonomy, agency, and student collaboration through interactive digital learning possibilities. The overall goal is to prepare the learners for authentic intercultural communication. The research approach is mainly qualitative, and includes dialogical hermeneutics combined with ideas of action- and design-based research. TRIM (Tampere Research Center for Information and Media) was also included in the research team during the Active Learning Spaces development project in 2012-2013.

Funding source

Business Finland

The City of Tampere Science Fund

The Emil Öhmann Foundation

The Emil Aaltonen Foundation

City of Tampere Science Fund

Coordinating organisation(s)

PLURAL

SoleCRIS

Contact person

Tampere University and Tampere University of Applied Sciences constitute the Tampere higher education community. Tampere University is a merger of the University of Tampere and Tampere University of Technology.